Folding truck.



. W. E. PARKER & W. BURNS.

FOLDING TRUCK. APPLICATION man JUNE 2,1916.

- Patented Ma '1'5,1917.

VIZ Burns I I WZE.Park

W. EfPARKER & W. BURNS. v

FOLDING TRUCK.

APPLICATION man :uut 2. 1916.

Patented May15,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Burns WEPa rker W,

WILLIAM E. PARKER Am) WILLIAM norms, or rrnacn, NEW YORK; snm PARKER;

ASSIGNOR on ALL or HIS RIG-HT T0 JOHN scans, on ITHACA, NEW YORK.

roLnme TRUCK,

Application filed June 2, 1916. Serial No. 101,361.

To all when it may concern.

Be it known that We, WILLIAM E. PARKER and WILLIAM BURNS, citizens of the United States residing at Ithaca, in the county of Tomplrins and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Trucks; and we do hereby declare the followin to be a full, clear, and exact description 0 the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a folding truck and the principal object of the invention is to provide a folding truck which when it is in open position will form a platform for support ing the body of the user when it is necessary to get under a motor vehicle in order to make necessary repairs thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which when not in use may be folded into a small and compact bundle so that the same may be carried on the vehicle and will occupy a minimum amount of space.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device which is simple and strong and which may be readily moved to a proper point without inconvenience to the user.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a truck constructed in accordance with this invention,

Fig. 2 is a side view in elevation of the truck illustrating the same in its unfolded position,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the truck showing the same partly folded,

Fig. 4: is an end View of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a view illustrating the device completely folded and showing in dotted lines its relative opened position.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates as an entirety the frame of the device consisting of the side bars 2 and 3, each of these side bars comprises two sections having their adjacent ends pivoted together as at 4 and 5 respectively as clearlyillustrated in the drawmgs. The Side bars are held in spaced parallel relation by the end bars 6 each of which comprises three separate sections consisting of a central section and two end sections which are pivoted as at 7 to said central section. Extending transversely of the device adjacent the pivots 4 and 5 are the bars 8 each of which consist of a central and a pair of end sections which are hinged to the sections as at 9. It will thus beseen that a pair of frames is provided having their adjacent ends hinged by the hinges 4 and 5 as clearly shown in the drawings. The pivots or hlnges 7 and 9 as well as the pivots or hinges 4 and 5 are arranged in such a manner that when pressure is applied to the top of the platform the frame will remain rigid but when an attempt is made to fold the side portions of the frame formed by the side bars 2 and 3 and the end sections of the end bars 6 and the end sections of the central bars 8 the same will fold under the bottom on the hinges 7 and 9-. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the hinges 4 and 5 are arranged so that the central portions are out of alinement with the plane of the central portions of the hinges 7 and 9 and these hinges 4 and 5 are sup ported by the arms 10 in spaced relation to the platform which will be more fully hereinafter described.-

The supporting platform of the device comprises the central plates 11 and 12, which 'are positioned between the corner plates 13.

These central plates 11 and 12 are supported on the central portions of the end bars 6 and 8 and are attached thereto by suitable These notches are to accommodate the arms 10 and the hinges 4 and 5'when the device is in folded position as will be clearly seen upon reference to Fig. 5. Formed on oppositeends of the plates 11 and 12 are the openings 18 which are arranged to receive the rollers or casters which will be more fully hereinafter described.

The casters above referred to each com prise a base or attaching plates 19 to which is swivelly connected the forks 20 between which the roller 21 is journaled as will be seen upon, reference to Fig. 5, the casters Patented May 15, 1917.

when the device is folded are accommodated in the openings 18 and when in open position as shown in Fig. 2 the device will be supported on the casters so as to allow the same {It} llie readily shifted around beneath the ve- It will be apparent from the foregoing that in use when it is desired to occupy the truck, the same is opened as illustrated in Fig. 1 and placed in the position shown in Fig. 2 and it will be apparent that the occupant may lie down on the truck and then propel himself in the desired direction until the desired point is reached where after making the necessary repairs to the vehicle he may readily move out from under the vehicle and then fold the truck ready for transportation. The folding of the .truck is accomplished by turning the same on its upper face so that the rollers or casters project upwardly and then swinging the corner sections of the platform on their pivots 7 .and '9 thereby swinging the pivots 4 and 5 into such .a position that they project through the openings 16 and 17 simultaneously with this movement it will be seen that the rollers 21 will project through their perspective openings 18 and the device is then ready for the next fold which is made by lifting the central portions of the track upwardly so that it folds on the hinges 4 and 5 in the manner illustrated in Fi 5. Such action will cause the casters of t e opposite ends to project through the remaining open ings in the plates12'as illustrated in Fi 5 and when in this position it will be seen t at the device will occupy a minimum amount of space and may be readily transported.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that such changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of parts as will fall within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is a 1. In a folding truck, a'pair of central plates, corner plates hingedly connected beside the central plates, hinges connecting the adjacent ed hinges being 0 set, the central lates eing formed with notches in their ad acent edges to receive the offset hin es and allow the same to project beyond t e upper faces of the central plates when the device is'in its folded position to allow the central plates 2. A folding truck comprising a pair of central plates arranged in longitudinal alinement, corner plates hingedly connected to the side edges of the central plates, said corner plates being arranged in longitudinal alinement, hinges connecting the adjacent ends of the corner plates, said hinges being offset and positioned below the faces of the plates when the device is in its operative position, the central plates having recesses in their adjacent edges 'to receive the offset hinges when the corner plates are folded, the said offset hinges projecting through the notches and beyond the plane of the upper faces of the central plates to allow the upper faces of said central plates to be folded upon each other, the free ends of the central plates having openings therein and rollers on the corner plates adapted to project through the openings in the central I tion.

plates when the device is in its folded posi- 3. A truck comprising a frame, said frame holding the side bars in spaced parallel re-.

lation, each of said end bars consisting of a central sectionhaving end sections hinged thereto, transversely extending bars ar- 1 I ranged beside the hinges of the side bars, said transversel extending bars consisting of a central an end section hinged to the central section, the transverse bars being connected to the side bars, plates secured to the sections of the frame to form a platform, the central plates being provided with notches in their adjacent ends to accommodate the hinges of the side bars and having openings in their opposite ends, and rollers carried by the end plates and adapted to project throu h the openings when the device is in its olded position.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signa- WILLIAM E. PARKER. WILLIAM BURNS.

Witnesses EUGENE TERRY, JOHN Bonus. 

